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Local named to state board

A professional from Wapakoneta will help set the standard for the skills of professionals who help make people look more beautiful.

Apollo Career Center senior cosmetology instructor Tasha Sheipline, who also serves as the managing cosmetologist at the school, received an appointment this March by Gov. John Kasich to serve a 5-year term on the State Board of Cosmetology. She is a representative for career technical instructors.

“It is an extreme honor to be on the board and to also represent the 80-plus career tech schools that are in Ohio,” said Sheipline, who served as the regional education manager for Fiesta Salons, of Wapakoneta, prior to teaching. “As a board member, our primary responsibility is to make sure salons and schools are following the administrative code that applies to the cosmetology industry and that they are abiding by the laws.

“As laws are introduced, we may be called in to look into the proposed legislation to make sure that the bill is fair and equitable to all people,” the professional hair stylist said. “As times change and the industry changes, we also may look at existing laws to see if they are still applicable and if they need changed or abolished.”

Sheipline has held many positions focused on educating cosmetology professionals including continuing education coordination, licensed tanning courses for professionals, salon evaluations on overall efficiency, and development of course work and event planning.

She also explained cosmetology board members also hold administrative hearings for salons that have had violations and have been served with citations and fines.

She explained the State Board of Cosmetology is responsible for overseeing estheticians, salons, nail salons and tanning salons. The scope has expanded through the years.

An issue being discussed now by cosmetology board members is how the needed 1,500 hours in cosmetology fit into the state’s core curriculum requirement.

“We are looking at the curriculum of the career centers and tech schools one-by-one to make sure they are in compliance with the 1,500 hours because as Ohio adds another math or another science we need to know where that time is going to come from in their schedule,” Sheipline said. “The biggest challenge is looking at that and making sure schools are in compliance because schools must be in compliance to offer the program.”

The appointment, which Kasich made on March 15, will benefit not only herself, Sheipline said, but it should benefit her students and the Apollo Career Center.

“I think this will make a difference because it is value-added to my students, definitely, they will be made abreast of all the changes as they happen and I will be more educated on those laws as I am closer to the process,” said Sheipline, who has been instructing students at Apollo since 2006. “I am pretty proud that I have the experience I have, Apollo has sent me to a great number of conferences and I think I have a really good understanding of career tech and the academic expectations of the state Department of Education.”

She also hopes to bring her practical experience to the state board.

“I think it is a win-win on both sides,” Sheipline said. “I can bring something back to the state board and they can provide me with extra information when it comes to teaching my class. As far as Apollo goes, anytime you can have an instructor more knowledgeable about their industry, that is a huge plus for any school.”

The first meeting she will attend as a board member is April 9. Last week, she attended an orientation where she met the executive director and staff. They provided her with information on current issues and topics.

At the Apollo Career Center, Sheipline started as a substitute teacher and provided adult education classes in cosmetology, before she became a full-time instructor, preparing young people for careers in cosmetology. She also advises the school’s Skills USA team in for the annual competition.

Sheipline is pursing a Bachelor of Arts degree in career technical education and career-based intervention at The University of Toledo.

She and her husband, Tony, live with their daughters, Gabrielle (Gabby), Adrien and Ava, in Wapakoneta.